#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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VERSE: Lv26-22b
RASHIS COVERED: Lv26-22b Lv26-22c Lv26-22d Lv22-e
============ WILD BEAST ATTACKS =================================
----------------------------------------
TODAYS RASHI RULE: CLIMAX
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE: NUANCES
----------------------------------------
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
Lv26-22 states that God will send
- wild beasts on the Jews and these wild beasts will
---- bereft you
---- cut your animals
---- diminish you
---- desolate your roads
It appears that the Bible is simply stating 4 times that
the wild beasts will hurt you. Rashi applies the CLIMAX
principle and emphasizes the NUANCES of the repeated 4 phrases:
--CHILD LOSS(Bereft); ANIMAL loss; PEOPLE loss; ROAD loss.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RULE
-------------------------
The CLIMAX rule deals with the very special case
where the Bible repeats the SAME idea in SIMILAR
language 3 or more times.
The CLIMAX rule views these repeating phrases as
forming a Biblical PARAGRAPH.
To apply the CLIMAX rule first identify the
UNIFYING TOPIC idea of this paragraph.
There are two main uses of the CLIMAX RULE.
Sometimes the CLIMAX rule is used to DEVELOP the
main theme in a series of stages.
In the NUANCE CLIMAX subrule, however, all Rashi
does is READ NUANCES into the paragraph which
enrich the meaning of the TOPIC IDEA. The justification
of reading these nuances into the TOPIC IDEA comes
from POETIC LICENSE which requires that the repeated
phrases each be interpreted differently.
STANDARD EXAMPLE
----------------
A clear example of NUANCE climax is todays verse: Lv26-22
---------------------------------------
I, God, will send WILD BEASTS against you
-- they will BEREFT you
-- they will CUT your ANIMALS
-- they will DIMINISH you
-- your ROADS will be desolate
---------------------------------------
STUDENT EXERCISES
-----------------
- Find the TOPIC IDEA (or the UNIFYING idea) in
the above 4 phrases
- Try and find the special NUANCES in each of
the phrases in the verse
- Justify each nuance with a supportive hint
RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS:
- The TOPIC IDEA is WILD BEAST ATTACKS
- The remaining 4 phrases describe 4 natural
consequences of a wild beast attack. They are
-- Loss of CHILDREN
-- loss of LIVESTOCK
-- loss of ADULT PEOPLE
-- loss of ROADS
- The nuances which support the above 4 interpretations
are as follows
-- The root SHIN-CAPH-LAMED means BEREFT of CHILDREN
-- the verse explicitly states LIVESTOCK will be lost
-- the verse explicitly states YOU WILL BE DIMINISHED
-- the verse uses a passive voice: YOUR ROADS will be lost;
the passive voice places an emphasis on ROADS--all of
them (Big or small)
COMMENTS: Note how we interpret the 2 phrases
---------------------------
They will BEREFT you
They will DIMINISH you
---------------------------
To refer to loss of CHILDREN vs LOSS OF ADULTS
But the verse never states ADULTS. Thus we
read ADULTS into the verse since it gives an
extra nuance and is consistent with extracting
as many nuances as possible. This READING IN of
ideas not explicitly stated but hinted at is
typical of the CLIMAX rule.
STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE
---------------------------------
A standard reference for Rashis using climax may
be found at http://www.RashiYomi.com/example9.htm
Also visit the Rashi calendar at
http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm
The CLIMAX series was presented from Mid August 2000
to Mid September (Xampl-1 thru Xampl-22 on the
calendar).(Or directly go to
http://www.RashiYomi.com/xampl-1.htm
http://www.RashiYomi.com/xampl-2.htm....
It is summarized at Xampl-36.
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/xampl-36.htm
(Note: An alternate approach is to regard
the CLIMAX rule as a consequence of the
Rabbi Ishmael style rules: Thus in this verse
we have
-- (GENERAL) WILD BEASTS will be sent against you
-- (DETAILS) you will lose children,livestock,roads...
This is the famous GENERAL-DETAIL style of Rabbi
Ishmael.
This approach allows us to see the set of repeated
phrases as GENERAL TOPIC SENTENCE followed by a
DETAILED development)
HOW TO USE THESE LISTS FOR SCHOOL PROJECTS
------------------------------------------
You can use the LISTS referenced above for
school projects. Here is how. If you are a
teacher then you can use the above resources
to display verses with repeating phrases.
You can then have the students do the 3 exercises
listed above:
(a) Find the TOPIC sentence
(b) Describe NUANCES of each phrase
(c) Defend or SUPPORT the nuances
The students can then compare their analysis with that
of Rashis. This leads to greater appreciation of Rashi.
TODAYS EXAMPLE
--------------
The LIST below recaps the analysis of Lv26-22 presented above
===============================================================
VERSE TEXT OF VERSE RASHIS NUANCES
========= ============================== ======================
Lv26-22b The beasts will bereft you Kill your CHILDREN*1
Lv26-22c The beasts will KILL LIVESTOCK Kill your ANIMALS*2
Lv26-22d The beasts will HURT YOU Kill your PEOPLE*2
Lv26-22e The beasts will ruin the roads Kill all ROADS*3
NOTES
------
*1 The Hebrew root Shin-Caph-Lamed,BEREFT, means to lose
children Thus Rashi is simply emphasizing the particular
nuance of the root. Here are some typical verses
------------------------------------------------------
Gn27-45 Why should I lose both my children in one day
Gn42-36 You have bereft me from my children Simon,Joe
1S15-33 ..so may your mother become BEREFT of you
Jr18-21 your wives will become BEREFT & widows
Is49-21 How can I have children when I am BEREFT
-------------------------------------------------------
*2 Rashi here, of course, is using alignment
of the two verse halves
--------------------------------------------------------
the beasts will KILL LIVESTOCK
the beasts will DIMINISH YOU
--------------------------------------------------------
As the capped words show there are two separate themes
here
-- killing livestock
-- hurting people
*3 The verse states
----------------------------
Your roads will be desolate
----------------------------
Rashi interprets
-----------------------------------------
Both big and small roads will be desolate
-----------------------------------------
Note: Nothing grammatical was bothering Rashi.
Rather Rashis interpretation follows the cLIMAX
principle which requires reading extra nuances
into the verses.
True there is a difference in this phrase
-- the other 3 phrases in Lv26-22 are stated in the ACTIVE
---- The wild animals WILL BEREFT you
---- the wild animals WILL CUT your livestock
---- the wild animals will DIMINISH you
-- by contrast this last phrase is stated in PASSIVE
---- your roads WILL BECOME DESOLATE
So Rashi sees an emphasis in this last phrase on
the ROADS rather than on the act--hence Rashi interprets
that ALL ROADS (big or small) will become desolate
from animals.
This certainly is supportive to Rashi. But Rashis
main proof comes from the CLIMAX principle which
requires reading nuances into the verses.
================================================================
RASHI RULE USED: CLIMAX
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Volume 13 Number 25
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 13 Number 25